Fair Is Fair
by daysandweeks
Summary: Seven meetings between Lily Evans and James Potter on September 1 on the Hogwarts Express. T for later chapters. Written preDH.
1. First Year

Chapter One

As soon as she stepped foot on the train to Hogwarts, Lily Evans knew that her life had changed for good.

She made her way down the aisle timidly, hugging her bags to her. Her cauldron clinked dangerously against the wall, startling her every now and then. She tried her best not to look into the side compartments despite her curiosity, using her thick, long red hair as a curtain between herself and the rest of the world. But her attempts at blending in were soon foiled.

Before Lily had time to react, a small orange cat had jumped before her, tipping her over slightly as she tried not to trample over it. A squeal of giggles and worry came from the compartment she was now approaching, and a girl of about Lily's age, eleven, jumped out from the doorway. "I'm so sorry!" she laughed, shyly, her face turning pink. She scooped up the cat and smiled lightly at Lily.

"It's alright," Lily said, a smile on her face now that she'd righted herself. The girl before her was short and blonde with big, bright blue eyes. She was blushing terribly. "I'm Lily," Lily offered. "I'm a first year."

"I am too!" the girl responded. "My name's Celeste." She jerked her head to the side, motioning towards two other blonde, blue-eyed girls in her apartment, looking a bit older. "These are my sisters Anna and Rosaline. They're both second years."

Rosaline smiled at Lily and said, "Would you like to come in and take a seat with us? You seem to be having trouble managing those packages of yours."

Lily nodded gratefully and entered the compartment, tossing her belongings in the nearest available space as Celeste entered behind her, petting her cat. "That's Ginger, by the way," Rosaline said with a smile, gesturing towards the cat.

"So what house are you in?" Lily asked Anna and Rosaline.

"I'm a Gryffindor," Rosaline replied.

"I'm a Hufflepuff," Anna added. "We're expecting Celeste here to be one too. She's just so hard-working. Our mum was a Hufflepuff and our dad was a Gryffindor."

"What house are you expecting to be in?" Celeste asked Lily.

Lily shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. I'm Muggleborn, so—."

"Are you really, now?" Rosaline interrupted. Confused, Lily nodded. "I wouldn't go around saying that to just anyone, Lily. Some students might not like you so much."

Anna made a disgusted face, as did Celeste. "They'll think they're better than you," Anna snorted.

Lily was about to inquire as to why when a tall, lanky boy, just about her age, barged into the room, looking about wildly. "Oh, sorry ladies," he said with a wink. "I do believe I have the wrong room."

"Who was that?" Lily asked, her attention now diverted by the subject of the boy who had just entered and left.

Celeste shrugged but Rosaline spat, "He looks like one of the Black boys. He's probably going to be a Slytherin."

Just then, Ginger jumped once more from her position on Celeste's lap. Celeste groaned and sprang up. "I'll go get her," she murmured in defeat.

Eager to explore the rest of the train and meet other students now that she'd gotten on so well with these three, Lily said, "No, I will." She sprung up and headed out into the compartment, running down it after the cat.

After moving a few yards, she found her path blocked by a boy of her height with messy black hair. "Excuse me," Lily said, rather politely. "I'm chasing after my friend's cat. Would you mind moving?"

The boy smirked. "Not really," he said. "I'm quite comfortable standing where I am."

"In the middle of the aisle?" Lily snorted in reply, flipping her red hair behind her shoulder in a mixture of annoyance and confidence. "Please move before I'm forced to do something irrational."

The boy snorted as well. "Such as?" He leaned towards her, challenging her remark.

"I don't know!" Lily growled, now becoming aggravated. She tried to look over his shoulder, but he moved to block her view. "Hit you. Tickle you to death. Humiliate you out of my path."

The boy snorted once more. "If you hit me, you'll get a detention on your first day and I bet you hardly want that. If you tickle me, I'll have you know I'm not ticklish. If you humiliate me, well…it takes a lot of humiliate me."

"Than how do you propose I get you out of the way?" Lily taunted, now playing a long.

"Kiss me," the boy said frankly.

Lily blinked in surprise. "Kiss you?" she asked in disbelief. "But…I don't even know your name!"

"James," the boy said, sticking out his hand. "And you are?"

Lily glared at him, but took his hand, shaking it fiercely. "I'll tell you if you move."

"I'll move if you kiss me."

Not wanting to kiss this boy that she hardly knew, and that obviously was quite annoying her, Lily kept his hand in her grip, and lifted it to her lips. She kissed it, and dropped it, letting it fall loosely to James' side. "There now, I've kissed you," she said, blushing slightly. "Now please move."

"Fair is fair." James shrugged and stepped out of her way.

"Lily," she called behind her, now running after the Ginger, who was trapped at the end of the train.

Yes, her life had changed for good, but in more ways than one.


	2. Second Year

Chapter Two

He was waiting for her when she stepped onto the train.

He stood there, leaning against the wall, a smirk on his face. He always seemed so nonchalant, like he didn't have a care in the world. His hair was a mess, as always, and he gazed at her with his warm brown eyes.

Oh, how Lily loathed James Potter.

"Hello, Lily dearest."

"For heaven's sake, James. Don't call me that." Lily brushed past him, heading towards a compartment in the middle of the train where her friend Celeste was surely sitting. Celeste was a Hufflepuff and Lily was a Gryffindor. They weren't the best of friends, but since their meeting on the train on the first day of school last year, they'd decided that they were official Hogwarts Express buddies.

"How about Lils, then? It has a sort of comfy touch to it."

"My name is Lily," Lily growled, popping her head into a side compartment. Celeste was sitting there, stroking her pet cat, Ginger. Lily entered the compartment after smiling at Celeste, dropped her items in an empty space, faced James, who stood outside of the doorway, and spat, "See you soon." And with that, she shut the door in his face.

Celeste giggled and rolled her eyes, helping Lily load her bags onto a rack above their heads. "You really do hate him, don't you?"

"Yes," Lily growled, reaching down to scratch Ginger, who was rubbing against Lily's legs. "He's infuriating, and what's worse is I'm stuck with him, being as we're in the same common room and all."

The two girls plopped down into their respectful seats, and proceeded to inquire each other about their summers, when a knock sounded on the door. "Must be the sweets tray!" Celeste exclaimed excitedly, flinging open the door. Lily rushed to it as well, to be greeted by a boy of about her height.

"James!" she groaned. "Please, leave me alone!" She was growing more and more frustrated by the minute. She wasn't even at school yet, and James Potter wasn't giving her any space.

"Oh, but Lily…" he groaned in return, want and teasing and hurt in his voice, "I bought a present for you over break. Don't you want to see it?"

Celeste and Lily exchanged looks as Celeste took her seat once more. "Alright then," Lily said, curious as to what James had gotten her. "Let's see it."

A grimace appeared on James' face. "Well, you see…there's a problem there."

Lily tapped her foot impatiently, growing more and more bored by the minute. "I'm not going to wait all day, James."

"Alright then, Miss Busy Evans. I'll leave you alone." And with that, James turned on his heel, disgustedly snorting, and walked away.

Confused and disgruntled, Lily took a step back and eventually perched awkwardly on the bench behind her. "What was that all about?" Celeste asked quietly.

"I…I don't know…" Lily said. A few minutes passed until Lily turned to look at her friend. Gazing into Celeste's cool blue eyes, Lily asked, "Do you think maybe I treat him too cruelly?" A pause ensued, and Lily continued. "I mean, I know he doesn't leave me alone. And I know that he likes to play practical jokes on me, but maybe he just does that for attention. He's a prick, and he annoys me, but he's not _so_ bad."

Celeste was the one to snort this time. "Lily Evans! Am I hearing you correctly?!" She dropped her cat onto the ground, and it meowed in frustration. Lily shut the compartment door as Ginger inched towards it. "Did you just say that James Potter, the boy that you can't stand, isn't so bad?"

Lily shrugged and bit her lip. "Maybe," she admitted.

Another knock sounded on the door, and Celeste scooped up Ginger, motioning for Lily to open it. On the other side stood Sirius Black, a Gryffindor second year, just like Lily and James. He was also James' best friend and notorious partner-in-crime when it came to practical jokes. "Hello, Sirius!" Lily greeted the boy. "How was your summer?"

Sirius shrugged, and Lily eyed Celeste, who was blushing slightly. Celeste was too shy to say, but she had a slight crush on Sirius. "Alright," he said, "if you like spending your summer with a houseful of hypocrites."

Lily smiled lightly, not knowing what to say to Sirius' remark. "What brings you here, then?" she asked.

"Well, James told me to tell you he's sorry if he was acting strange, but he thinks you're a complete and utter impatient bitch."

Celeste's eyes widened and Lily's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Sirius seemed to realize what he had just said, and raised his hands in alarm and defense. "Don't shoot the messenger!" he exclaimed. "Anyway, if you would like to see this gift he got you, he requests your presence at the rear compartment furthest to the left."

Lily stood up and went to move out of the compartment. "Am I allowed to slap him when I reach said compartment?"

Sirius stepped out of her way and said, "Now, that's not really nice payment for a present, is it?"

Rolling her eyes, Lily headed down the corridor until she came to the compartment that James was in. She didn't even bother to knock, for the door was slightly ajar. She opened it up fully, to see James slumped against a bench, until he noticed her and sat up straight. "Ah, Evans!"

"Ah, Potter! I hear you think I'm a bitch!"

James' jaw dropped in mock horror as he stood up. "Now, why would I ever say that? Who told you such a thing? And by all means, that is _not_ appropriate language for a twelve-year-old school girl!"

Lily let out a sigh and said, "Well, I do suppose I'm not being fair to you. Now, please, I was told to come here to see what this gift you're talking of is."

"A-ha!" James exclaimed. "You girls always have a reason." Lily wasn't sure what that meant, but James was now fishing through his pants' pocket, awkwardly trying to find an item of some sort. Eventually, he withdrew his hand, tightly balled into a fist. "Here you go," he said.

Lily stuck out her hand, expecting James to drop something in it. He lowered his hand to hers, opened up his fist, and then took her hand. After a few seconds of confusion and blushing, Lily removed her hand from James'. "Excuse me?" she scoffed. "You made me come back here just to hold hands?"

James shrugged lightly, reaching to mess up his hair. Lily rolled her eyes at his habit. "Something of the sort." Lily was about to turn around and leave when James stopped her by opening up his mouth once more. "But I did buy you something."

"And that would be…?"

"How about I show you another time, when you're nicer to me and not feeling so volatile."

And, with a wink, Lily turned on her heel, heading back towards her compartment with Celeste. "Fair is fair," she called behind her.


	3. Third Year

Chapter Three

Half an hour into the train ride, James Potter realized that something was seriously wrong. It wasn't that Sirius was being oddly quiet and gazing out of the window. Nor was it that Remus was looking rather tired due to the recent full moon. All of the Marauders—James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus—knew that Remus hadn't gotten much sleep lately, and they knew why.

Although James' thoughts did float off onto a tangent about studying to become an Animagus, the site of a red-headed female trotting down the hallway made him realize what was wrong.

He hadn't bothered Lily Evans yet.

He was about to stand up and chase after her when he realized something strange. He didn't _want_ to chase after Lily Evans. She was just going to spurn him. She was just going to say that he was an annoying, immature prick. But part of him did want to see her. Or rather, he wanted her to see him.

He'd grown a bit over the summer. It was evident, but then again, most boys had grown as well. As disinterested as he was in wooing Lily Evans, he wanted her to see him standing a head taller, his voice an octave deeper. He wasn't full grown yet, no, but certainly he could at least _attempt_ to rival whatever fourth year boy all the girls would be swooning over this school year.

"I'll be right back," James said, exiting the compartment. His friends barely registered his exit.

James held his head up high, facing the entire world with a grin. He looked into each open compartment, inspecting its inhabitants. When he came across one with a pretty, albeit shy blonde girl looking out of the window, seated all alone, he knew just what to do.

"Hello, Celeste," James said, stepping foot into the room.

Celeste was startled by his voice, and let out a small squeak, followed by a laugh of acknowledgement. "Oh, you must be looking for Lily!" she commented. "She's just run off after my cat." Celeste rolled her eyes. "I don't know why she didn't let me get it myself."

_Excuse me. I'm chasing after my friend's cat. Would you mind moving?_

It wasn't arrogance that told James that Lily had gone after Celeste's pet just to see him. He just knew it.

"I'm not looking for Lily," James said, sitting down across from Celeste. "I just came to see how your summer was."

"Oh!" exclaimed Celeste, taken aback. "It was…quite fine. My family vacationed by the seaside, and I always love going there."

"Me too," James admitted, although the seaside wasn't exactly his favorite place to go. He liked it, but there were other places he'd rather visit. "But I just stayed home all summer."

Celeste nodded. "Did you do that Charms essay? Wasn't it difficult?"

James shrugged. "It wasn't easy, but I think I did well." Suddenly, an idea sprang into his mind. "Hey, did you get your Hogsmeade permission slip signed?"

"Yes!" Celeste exclaimed. "Oh, I'm so excited to go. Aren't you?"

James didn't mention that his friend Remus had already taken him there once or twice, leading the other Marauders through the Whomping Willow and into the Shrieking Shack. "Yeah. Hey, listen. How about we uh…hang out on the first trip?"

Just then, someone cleared their throat from the doorway. James looked up to see Lily Evans, leaning against it, an orange cat secured in her arms. "Here she is, Celeste." She looked at James, turning slightly red, and muttered, "Hello, Potter."

James stood up, moving aside so that Lily could sit down where he had been. Moving to the doorway, he said, "So how about it, Celeste?"

Unsure, Celeste looked from James to Lily and then back to James again. "Well, alright then. I'll see you there."

James nodded, smiled at both of the girls, and left, calling behind him, rather coolly, "Alright then. It's a date."

He could hear a disgruntled sigh even as he entered the compartment where his friends sat. They all had cheered up a bit now, as it seemed the sweets cart had made its rounds. "Want a chocolate frog, James? I bought you one," Peter offered.

"No, I'm fine," James said.

"You sure are in a strange mood today," Sirius said with a laugh. "First you haven't even gone out of your way to see Lily, and second you don't want any candy."

James shrugged, his hands placed securely in his pockets, and plopped down beside Peter on the bench opposite Sirius and Remus. Remus, as always, was looking rather hungry and munching on some sort of chocolate bar. "I don't know. Must be the weather," James mumbled with a sigh.

Sirius was about to shut the compartment door, obviously keen on talking about the Animagus training, when a girl with red hair and brilliant green eyes appeared at it. Everyone turned to look at her, and then at James. "Excuse me," Lily said, "but I'd like to talk to James."

James tried to play it cool, but could feel heat on the back of his neck, rising up to color his cheeks. He exited the compartment, and followed Lily, who was silently leading him towards an empty one in the back. Inside, she shut the door behind him.

"Remember this compartment?" she asked him.

James looked around, and then nodded with a smile. "You didn't get your gift here last year," he said with a wink.

"I still haven't," Lily commented in an off-hand manner. "Take a seat." James did so, and Lily sat down across from him, which really was very far away. The compartment was rather large. The silence between them was heavy, and James could feel the tension in it. "It's just…" Lily finally started. "I mean…"

"Go on."

"You asked Celeste on a date?"

She was jealous?! James Potter had succeeded in making Lily Evans jealous?! For a minute, James held back the urge to do a dance of victory, but a second wave of a different kind of emotion then hit him. He didn't want to make Lily hurt. He wasn't feeling that immature today. "Well, no," James said. "I just said, 'It's a date' but I meant we were going to hang out. Like, I should have said, 'I'll mark it on my calendar' or some such thing."

"Oh, God, I'm so embarrassed!" Lily groaned, standing up to run out of the room. No matter how much James wasn't interested in Lily this year, the sound of her voice—the way she said God, which most witches he knew didn't say (it must have been Muggle thing)—made him rush to the door to stop her from leaving. He was quicker than she was, probably from all the Quidditch training he'd been doing over the years. She nearly ran into him, if not for the defensive hand she put up, stopping hesitantly a centimeter away from his chest.

James was surprised to see how much he'd grown in comparison to her. It had only been a few months. Did one summer really change people that much? Or rather, did it really change boys that much? He wasn't much taller than her, no, but they weren't the same height anymore. The top of her head reached the middle of his nose. Had he still been interested in her, he could have kissed her eyebrows, if that was what he was into, rather.

"James, please move. I'm terribly embarrassed."

"But we're talking," James murmured. "We're talking and we're not fighting. I like this."

Lily took an awkward step back, but refused to look into James' eyes. "How come you didn't come looking for me today?"

James shrugged, still blocking the doorway. He could tell that Lily was in the mood to run, and he knew her well enough to know that when she wanted to run, she would do just that. "I had other things to do. I wanted to catch up with my friends." A short pause followed before he quipped, "You're not at the top of my priorities list, you know."

Lily let out a soft gasp, glaring up at James. "I never said anything of the sort. I'm just used to you causing trouble for me."

"Ah, so you'd rather me cause you trouble than not give you any special treatment at all?" James said this with a devilish smile, and Lily rolled her eyes at him. He had meant it in jest, but they both knew that in reality, Lily did want his special treatment, no matter how cruel or strange or annoying it was.

"Yes," Lily said after some hesitation.

The tension between them doubled, until James moved out of her way as Lily stomped towards the door. She opened it up and headed down the hall. "Alright then!" James called after her, his voice shaky. "But if you wake up tomorrow morning covered in maple syrup, don't be surprised!"

He bit his lip in anticipation of her answer, but after a few seconds she called it down the hall towards him with a laugh in her voice. "Fair is fair!"


	4. Fourth Year

Chapter Four

Lily Evans wasn't sure why she wasn't sitting with Celeste Jones for her ride to Hogwarts. She hadn't on the way home from Hogwarts after her third year, either. Part of her said that it was because Celeste had gone on five dates with James Potter the year before. But part of her thought that that was just a ridiculous reason to not sit with someone.

For one, the dates had been inconsequential. The couple in question hadn't even kissed until the fourth one. Also, there wasn't any reason to be jealous of Celeste, being as she was quite boring and she had dated James Potter, who was quite annoying. Lily told herself that the only reason she'd stopped sitting with the Hufflepuff girl was that she was boring and didn't know how to tell a decent young man from a complete arse of a boy.

And so now Lily Evans was heading down the corridor, trying to find a compartment with a friendly face in it that did not belong to Celeste (or her two older sisters).

--

James Potter didn't really mean to bump into the redhead before him. Yes, he had been looking for her, but no, he hadn't meant to cause her to drop her cauldron on his foot. "So sorry!" she exclaimed.

"No, my fault, my fault!" he responded, ignoring the dull ache in his foot and helping her gather up her things from the train floor.

Lily looked up at him, her face flushed pink, and smiled slightly when she saw he was carrying his belongings as well. "Let's find a compartment," she said. The idea struck him as funny, since Lily claimed to hate him, but he complied and took a step ahead.

He led her to the large compartment in the back where they shared memories, although really the memories were all rather trite and silly. "How was your summer?" James asked, feeling a blush form on his face. His feelings for Lily had resurfaced over the summer, or at least they had in the past two minutes. She'd grown a bit. He was still taller than her, yes, but her body had changed. She was beginning to hold some of the curves of a woman.

"Good," Lily said. "I went to France with my family, although Petunia was a bore." She rolled her eyes at the mention of her sister. "You?"

"Alright," James said. "I went to the seaside."

An awkward pause ensued. Finally, Lily blurted something out, although once she'd said it, James wished that she hadn't. She couldn't even look him in the eyes as the words came out of her small, delicate mouth. "Are you still…uh…seeing Celeste Jones?"

"No," James spat out immediately. "I wrote to her over the summer, and she to me…but I broke it off with her in early July." Lily found the courage to look up at him, and he saw that the red color on her cheeks had faded, making her look even more radiant with that striking red hair of hers. He couldn't help but add, "She wasn't like you."

"James…" Lily sighed. "I don't…you don't…"

He resisted the urge to make fun of her. He resisted the urge to kiss her. Instead, James scooted over so that he was seated next to Lily. "Remember when you woke up covered in maple syrup?" he whispered.

"James!" Lily groaned. "You're infuriating! I nearly forgot about that!" But she said it with a laugh, too, and when she looked at him, he saw the laugh dancing in her eyes.

That was the moment when James Potter knew that he was falling in love with Lily Evans.

--

She hated to admit it, but she liked the feel of him sitting next to her. She liked when he reached back to mess up his hair and accidentally brushed his arm against hers. She liked when he teased her.

However, Lily didn't like when James made her feel like a fool.

"So why did you care about me and Celeste?" he asked in that cocky, off-hand manner of his. She hated when he acted that way, especially in situations where he had previously been acting perfectly amiable, such as in this one.

Lily resisted the urge to cry out. Instead, she calmly shrugged her shoulders and said, "I just wanted to know how things were going with you. That's all." She turned to face James, who was smiling at her rather arrogantly. "It's not that I particularly cared about _you_," she spat. "Finding out information on you isn't at the top of my priorities list, you know."

"Touché!" James said with a chuckle. Lily rolled her eyes, and couldn't help but notice that James was reaching for the pocket of his robes. "You know," he said, his voice now softer, "I think now is a good time for me to give you that present from…what was it? Two years ago?"

Lily laughed, her heart suddenly skipping a beat. She'd been intrigued as to what James had intended to give to her for a long, long time. "Well, alright then," she said in the same soft tone.

Abruptly, the compartment door slid open to reveal Sirius Black. "I knew I'd find you two hear!" he nearly shouted. "Prongs, Moony says he needs to talk to you about you-know-what."

"Prongs?" Lily asked, perplexed. "Moony? You-know-what?" She looked from Sirius to James. "What sort of code is this that you and your little clique are now sharing?"

Sirius let out a guffaw. "Clique is hardly the right word." James stood up, taking his hand from his pocket and preparing to move his baggage.

"Posse then," Lily said in an off-hand matter.

"Lily!" James gasped. "We are _not_ a posse! We're the Marauders!"

Lily rolled her eyes as the two boys moved to leave the compartment and stood up. She didn't want to sit by herself and planned on finding a compartment full of Gryffindor girls to gossip with about James. He truly was infuriating. But just as James' body left the doorway, Lily remembered something. "Potter?" she asked. He turned around to face her.

"Yes, Evans?"

"My gift?"

James let out a soft chuckle. "We have seven more train rides, Lils." And with that, he exited the compartment, causing Lily to roll her eyes and moan slightly in frustration.

--

In the compartment with the three other Marauders, James couldn't help but get lost in thought. He wasn't sure what attracted him to Lily. Was it her beautiful emerald eyes? Her ruby red hair? He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black velvet bag. The others were so distracted in talking about preparing to become Animagi that they didn't even notice as he pulled the necklace out of the bag. It seemed silly that he'd waste an entire summer's allowance on it now, but at the same time, he quite liked that his gift was eluding Lily, just as she eluded him. "Fair is fair," he muttered, gazing at the small pendant on the necklace—a white flower with a yellow gem in the middle.

And as he placed the necklace away, he promised himself then and there that the day she stopped running would be the day that his gift would hang comfortably around her neck, resting between her breasts, a treasure finally won.


	5. Fifth Year

Chapter Five

"Oh God. Not you."

James was startled by the words, and whirled around to see Lily Evans standing behind him and shaking her head. The other prefects waiting for instruction in the front cabin turned around as well, but upon seeing Lily, realized she had been talking to James.

"How did _you_ become a prefect?"

James was surprised by how much the words stung him, but he bit his lip, fighting back an upset remark. Instead he said, "Nice to see you too, Lils! How was your summer?"

Lily didn't respond. She just rolled her eyes at James. Her cruelty truly was hurting him. He'd spent the past school year falling for Lily Evans again, and the past summer realizing how much he truly cared for her. He was completely and utterly enamored with her, not that he planned on telling anyone.

"Mine was great, too," James said in an off-hand manner, as if Lily had actually answered his inquiry. "I had tons of fun just lying around the house, rereading my prefect letter and wondering how exactly I, of all people, became a prefect." What he said did have some truth to it—he wasn't quite sure why he'd been elected for this position when there were Gryffindors like Remus sitting around—but he was mainly just mocking Lily.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm going to have to go on patrols with you! This is going to be _horrible_!"

"You know what would be even more horrendous?" James said in a sarcastic tone. "If we both became Heads in our seventh year. I'm sure you'd just _love_ to spend all that time with me. Wouldn't you, Lils?"

Lily shot him a glare, "Don't even suggest that, Potter."

Soon, the Head Boy and Head Girl entered the compartment, as well as the heads of houses. Instructions and passwords were handed out, and the students dispersed to their separate cabins.

James was a few steps behind Lily, watching her trot quickly down the corridor. What was her problem with him? He didn't even bother to question her. He just jutted ahead of her, pinned nearly against the wall, and entered the compartment where Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting.

"Potter, wait." James was about to turn around when a hand was placed on the bend at his elbow. He slightly turned his head to see Lily standing behind him, a stony look on her face. "I'm sorry," she said.

James took a step out of the compartment, ignoring whatever Sirius was saying behind him. "Sorry?" he asked. "Whatever for, dearest Lily?"

"I'm sorry I'm being so horrid to you," she murmured, her cheeks coloring pink. "I shouldn't be being so dry with you." She was looking at her feet now, incredibly embarrassed. It was all oddly familiar to James. She now looked up at him, smiling a bit. "Being prefects together won't be so bad, will it?"

James shrugged, nonchalantly, trying to act as if Lily's behavior hadn't hurt his feelings. "Oh, I suppose not. We just won't talk much, alright?"

Lily rolled her eyes, the color in her cheeks fading. "Oh, then, what will we do?" A light smirk played across her lips, and James had the sudden urge to kiss it off of her. "I doubt we can manage to patrol the hallways together without talking. It would be rather awkward."

"There are lots of things we could do," James said. A playful feeling had come over him now that Lily was treating him properly again. "We could invent a sign language of sorts."

"Ah, but that would be like talking," Lily quickly countered. "Not exactly with words, but similar enough."

"You come up with an idea than," James spat, although with a laugh in his voice.

Lily blinked. "Oh, let's see…" she said, bringing a finger to her lips. James wanted to push it aside and kiss her where it had been. "I don't know!" she giggled. "Anything, really."

"Like this?" James said. Impulse had taken over. He leaned forward and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Hours seemed to pass, and Lily didn't react. She just stood there, paralyzed, and unsure what to do. She seemed to kiss him back, almost, until she suddenly pulled away and slapped James across the face.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" the two both yelled in unison. Lily put her fingers to her lips, her cheeks flushed pink once more with embarrassment. James put his hand to his cheek, which bore a deep red mark.

Lily dropped her hand to her side, her face now bright red. "You had no right to do that, James Potter!" she growled. By now, students were peeking out of their compartments, trying to find out who exactly was causing such a racket.

"What?" James said with a laugh. He'd thought up a clever remark incase this sort of situation took place ages ago. "You can't tell me that you haven't wanted to hit me since we first met. So we both got to do what we've wanted to do since day one, right?" He paused, rubbing his cheek and wincing. "Fair is fair."

Lily rolled her eyes and stomped away, leaving James still rubbing his face, although laughing quietly now. Sirius jumped out of the compartment and sent James an odd look. "Ouch! She really got you there!" He laughed a little, and James rolled his eyes, punching Sirius lightly with his free hand.

James didn't know it, but that incident wouldn't be the last time Lily Evans would slap him across the face. But he did know one thing that Lily Evans didn't know: That wouldn't be the last time he'd be kissing her, either.


	6. Sixth Year

Chapter Six

Lily Evans didn't mean to dose off all alone in a small compartment after the prefect meeting on the train to Hogwarts on September 1. It certainly left her in a vulnerable position.

She was dreaming of eating a chocolate frog when a coughing noise woke her up. She assumed it was the snack tray due to her dream, and when she woke up, was utterly surprised to see James Potter sitting across from her. Although her heart skipped a beat, surely in surprise, she calmly murmured, "Oh, hello, James."

"Good morning, Lils."

She rolled her eyes at his words, but then did a double take. James looked quite different than she remembered him. He'd "filled out nicely" as she often heard middle-aged women say of young men who'd grown up over the years. He seemed wider, although perhaps it was the confidence radiating from him that made him seem so.

Lily sat up straight, realizing how silly her thoughts were. Hadn't James always been confident? No, but this was different. It had been just a mask before.

"I saw you sleeping in here," James said, his eyes lingering a bit too long for comfort on her slightly exposed thighs, "and I figured I'd sit here so we could talk when you woke up." He coughed once more. "I'm sorry he woke you up." His eyes returned to hers now. "I have allergies, I suppose."

"Certainly you're not allergic to me!" Lily said with a simper.

James shrugged. "Do you have a cat?"

--

He wasn't sure what was so different about Lily. She looked the same, mostly. Of course she'd grown somewhat. Perhaps her face was thinner. Still, she amazed him, more now than ever before.

"No, I don't own a cat," Lily informed James, "but my sister's horrid boyfriend does, and she's been spending an awful lot of time around him lately, and then of course comes home, covered in cat hair." She laughed and James couldn't help but crack a smile as well. "Mum asks me to do the wash all the time, the magic way, but I can't get it through her head that the school won't let me do so, being as I'm underage and all."

James didn't even think of what he said next. "I'd like to meet her some day. Your mother. Your whole family, actually."

Lily blinked, surprised. "W-well…" she stuttered, "I suppose you could visit, maybe, during the summer."

"Summer!" James said, feeling like a fool. He hadn't even asked the girl he was head-over-heels for about her summer. "How was yours, then?"

Lily shrugged. "Alright. Petunia was particularly difficult." James made a confused face. "Petunia, my sister," Lily spat. James felt himself blushing a bit. Certainly he should have known that. He'd known Lily for years, after all. Five years. "Yours?"

--

Why was she being so cordial to him? Lily felt herself truly caring how James' summer had been. She listened quite avidly to James as he described an excursion in wizarding Italy to Lily. She smiled at him, now losing interest in the story, but not really caring. It was interesting to watch him. He'd grown up, to put it simply.

No longer was James the fifth year who'd tortured Severus Snape. He probably still was insecure, but at the same time, something about him had changed.

"Lily? Did you hear me?" Lily was pulled from her thoughts by James' inquiry.

"Oh, sorry," Lily murmured. "I was listening. I was just spacing out a bit." She felt bad for not having listened to him, and asked, "What were you saying?"

James shook his head. "It's not big deal. You didn't listen to me, so I won't tell you. Fair is fair, eh?"

Lily scoffed and leaned back in a rather unladylike fashion onto the back of the bench on which she was sitting. "Fair is fair," she agreed.

--

An idea came to James then. He reached into the pocket of his jeans, for he had not yet changed, and pulled a small bag out of it. It was black and velvet and when he looked up at Lily, he saw the look of familiarity that played across her face.

"It's the gift," he informed her. The gift had become a legend between the two of them. James knew what it was, but still wasn't quite sure when Lily was going to get it. Lily was clueless as to what it was. In fact, it wasn't the gift, it was the Gift.

He leaned forward, and she leaned forward as well. Their faces just inches apart, James reached forward and grabbed her clenched hands, gently. He opened them up, and placed the bag in them. Then, he pushed her hands back together again.

A loud bang sounded and James and Lily looked at the doorway, flustered and disappointed. Peter Pettigrew stood there, a lopsided smile on his face. "Lily!" he said, nodding. Then he looked at James. "Prongs, Moony needs to talk to you, pronto. The Shrieking—."

"WORMTAIL!" he shouted. "Watch what you say!" He gesticulated towards Lily after separating his hands from hers. "I'll be there."

Peter nodded and trotted away from the cabin, rubbing his head. James supposed he had banged it and caused the startling noise.

"Sorry," James said with a sigh, now looking at Lily. "I have to go."

He stood up, but Lily grabbed his arm. "Wait!" she commanded. "Don't you want to see me open this?"

James shrugged, picking up his luggage. He headed to the doorway and said, "Just open it. Don't mention what's inside of it. Don't even thank me. It's over, you have your gift. Remember, it's from me, but I got it when I was _twelve_, Lily."

Lily stood up as James exited the doorway, heading towards his regular compartment with the other Marauders. He needed to know what the big deal was about. Big deals concerning Remus were generally _big deals_.

"Potter!" she growled. "Come back here!" By now, he was running down the hallway.

But he kept on running, turning around and waving once he reached his destination.

--

Lily sat in the empty cabin feeling confused. James' gift sat in her lap, still in the bag. Should she open it? After an hour or so of torturing herself, Lily picked up the soft bag and opened it.

She dumped the contents readily onto her palm, and her heart skipped a beat as she saw the contents of the bag. She held the necklace up, nearly crying when she saw the beautiful necklace twelve-year-old James had purchased her. The pendant resembled a lily flower.

A small piece of parchment had also fallen out of the bag. She picked it up, suddenly forgetting what she hated about James. Who cared if he called his friends horrendous things like Wormtail? He was certainly sweet, or at least he had been at age twelve.

The parchment was folded, so Lily unfolded it, her hands shaking in anticipation. The note on it was simple, but it made her smile all the same.

_To the prettiest Lily flower of them all._ On the opposite side, a date was written—the August before their second year. But it had been crossed out and replaced by yesterday's date. _August 31__st_.

It certainly would be hard not discussing such a thing with James.


	7. Seventh Year

Chapter Seven

The front compartment, traditionally, was reserved for the Head Boy and the Head Girl. It provided time for the two to get to know one another, if need be, before becoming roommates for the remaining nine and a half months. When Lily Evans entered it, she had to admit that she wasn't even slightly surprised that James Potter was sitting inside, gazing out a window.

Quite honestly, the moment Lily had received her letter in July, she'd known that this moment would come. She knew that James would get the coveted position of Head Boy simply because she was Head Girl. And she wasn't disappointed and she wasn't going to complain. They were adults in the magic world now, after all, and she wasn't going to whine at him unless he'd reverted to his fifth year ways. Although he had flirted with her nonstop last year, somewhat to her dismay, he'd been quite civil.

James was startled as Lily's foot creaked on a floorboard and jumped slightly, turning his head to face her. "Oh, hello," he said, standing up to make room for her entrance. He took a bag from her, awkwardly, and placed it on the rack above their heads. "I imagined it would be you."

Lily sat down on the seat across from where James had been, and James soon followed suit. "How was your summer?" she asked him. He certainly was nearly grown up now. He even looked like perhaps he'd have to shave tonight if he wanted to look clean-cut and respectable like the Head Boy should be.

"Lonely, really," James said. "You?"

A loud bang filled the room. It was storming outside, and lightning soon followed, another thunderclap coming soon afterwards. "Same," Lily sighed. She realized that she wasn't looking at James so she lifted her eyes from the floor. When she noticed that he wasn't looking at her, either, she let out a small cough, and their eyes met.

"You didn't seem surprised to see me," James said, disappointment apparent in his voice.

Lily shrugged slightly. "I wasn't. Nor were you to see me."

James smiled. "I wasn't."

--

He still was attracted to Lily, of course, but James wasn't about to let her know that. He couldn't have Lily. He'd come to recognize this fact, and didn't want to spend a full school year having her spurn him. So it was best to be friendly, and that was that.

"I'm over you," he said, lying profusely. But he wanted to be frank with her. He wanted her to say, 'Oh, well that's just lovely. I'm happy for you. Let's be friends.' He kept his eyes on her face, no matter how nervous he was as to her reaction, despite the fact that he was sure he knew what it would be.

She looked stunned. He'd expected that. Her eyes widened and her face turned pink. Her jaw dropped, and James terribly wanted to roll his eyes at her arrogance. Wasn't he allowed to be over her? "What?" Lily gaped. "You…you can't…"

"Well, I am," James said, his Gryffindor courage now fleeing. He looked at the floor—at Lily's school shoes—perfectly clean and perhaps even new. "It took me six long years, but I'm over you." Biting his lip, he assumed the courage to look at her once more. "I suppose I never really cared for you _that_ much. It was just infatuation."

Lily let out a soft sigh that almost sounded like a sob and brought her hand up to her chest, rubbing it slightly. She plucked at her shirt, or perhaps something beneath it. "I…I can't believe…"

"Damn it, Lily!" James nearly shouted now. He was truly frustrated. "Why am I not allowed to not be interested in you? You just keep spurning me, so I deserve to have my peace. We're going to be roommates for a year—you can't let me suffer like that, can you?" He saw that she was near crying, and he was near crying himself.

"You can't be over me!" Lily finally screamed. The compartment went silent, and James was pretty sure he could hear silence throughout the rest of the train as well. Tears openly fell down her face now. "You…you can't be over me," she cried, her voice soft now.

It pained him to hurt her so, but she was just being selfish, unless she suddenly had feelings for him as well. "And why not?" James whispered, wanting desperately to reach across the cabin and tuck a strand of hair behind Lily's ear. It was blocking her face quite terribly.

--

She wasn't sure how to tell him. She'd been planning it all summer. She'd actually planned him initiating it all. She'd planned him asking her out for the millionth time and her actually saying yes and them having passionate sex on the head common room couch, which was quite too rushed for her in actuality, but it was a fantasy, so it didn't really matter.

She hadn't planned this, though.

Lily had always been good with words, as had James. Today, though, they'd been incredibly frank with one another. There was none of that usual wordy flirting and criticism that had existed between them since they were merely eleven. She realized that they'd started out conversing unsurely, and now were acting based on feeling.

So she went with her feeling and ditched the words that she was having trouble with. Instead, she whispered, "Because…" and leaned forward. She placed the palms of her hands on James' knees, sending a tingle down her spine. She leaned forward even more until their lips were just a millimeter apart. She was going to act on impulse and kiss him, but something stopped her.

It was a test, really, and she knew it. Had he been lying to her or not? She certainly hoped that he had.

--

James could smell her. She smelled of strawberries. She tasted like them, too, or at least she had last year when he'd briefly kissed her after giving her the necklace. He knew what she wanted him to do. He filled the space between them and kissed her quite hungrily.

Lily moaned slightly, taking control of the kiss as her tongue slid across his lips, which parted, allowing her entry into his mouth. But he couldn't let her have complete control, so he took her hands from his knees and moved them to the side, leaning even more into her and finding her breasts, kneading at them gently through her blouse.

He hadn't expected their first real kiss to be like this at all. He was even more surprised when she pulled away for air, and lifted her shirt up slightly to unhook her bra. She took his hands and placed them quite forcefully near the hem of her shirt.

And then he kissed her again and reached up her shirt towards her breasts. But he didn't find them quite easily. In fact, his hands found something else—a pendant hanging on a chain.

He pulled away and she lifted the necklace out from underneath her shirt. "Because I wear this every day and I have since you gave it to me," she whispered.

She'd found the words they'd been lacking earlier. A sudden wave of happiness and love, for lack of a better word, came over James, and he let out an awkward sounding sigh. Lily laughed slightly, and soon the two began cracking up.

"You're a horrible liar!" Lily said before resuming laughter.

James sent her a fake glare and hmphed. "I wouldn't be so sure about that!" he growled. "I made you cry, after all." As an afterthought, he added, "Don't do that again; it made me feel quite guilty."

"Serves you right," Lily giggled, "although I did deserve it."

Suddenly, a knock sounded on the door. Lily jumped, surprised, and immediately went about fixing her bra and running her hands through her hair, although it hadn't been messed up.

"I'll get it," James whispered, standing up. He smoothed his shirt and opened the door a crack, popping his head out.

--

Lily heard the Headmaster's voice from inside. "You are expected outside of the compartment in five minutes to talk with the prefects and staff."

"Thank you, Sir."

When James shut the door again, he turned around and slumped against it, eventually sitting on the ground. He shook his head at Lily, who was now standing. "This is truly insane. I come to school planning on lying to you and falling out of…whatever this feeling is…with you, and we end up snogging. And _then_ we get called away because we have duties to attend to."

Lily smirked and winked. "Ah, well, you have the pleasure of being my sole flatmate, and also the trouble of having lots of responsibilities. Almost like we're married, eh?" When he smiled at her, it sent another chill running down her spine. She certainly hadn't expected this to happen on the first day of school at all.

"That's life," James said with a shrug. "Fair is fair."

And he stood up to kiss her chastely before they left the compartment, hand in hand.

**The End**

_There. I really hope you guys liked it. You readers have been wonderful to me and I'm so glad you have enjoyed the story. It was a blast to write and I'm sad I'm done! But alas, that is all. I hope you didn't find this all too soon—I know it was said in the books that James made it seem as if he was over Lily by their seventh year. Apparently, though, they either forgot to tell you that this only lasted five seconds or it lasted quite some time, but too long for fanfiction purposes. Anyway, thanks for sticking through with readings this, and please read and review! Your reviews have made my day! --Kate_

_**Added:**__ And thanks for letting me know about the James not being a prefect thing. I was pretty sure he wasn't, but at the time I wrote the fifth chapter, I wasn't able to double check. So I just kept on going with him as a prefect. I __probably__ should have left a note saying that, but I didn't._

_Once again, thanks for reviewing!!_


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